Weavers Of The Dark Paths: Chapters 8+9

Chapter 8: Shadows’ Secrets At A Storm’s Heart

Mist knew for definite from the moment Wifusia took off that she was scared of heights. She took her mind off it as Jack filled her in on what had happened.

        Mist found it weird, flying while holding onto the leg of a giant white eagle. She didn’t feel the most safe hanging there with the only support for her feet being Wifusia’s talons. As Wifusia swooped and Jack laughed with joy, Mist felt nauseous.

        “I don’t feel too good up here!” Mist shouted to Jack as they rode the thermals.

        “I’ll ask her to land,” replied Jack. “By the way, do you know what your power is? Like how mine is Animal Lord? Most people who are taken have powers; Wifusia told me.”

        Mist just stared blankly at Jack as Wifusia dived slowly to the ground.

        Jack laughed softly as they landed in a large forest clearing. As they got off of her, Storm and Azure charged through the woods to meet them. Storm knocked Mist down and licked her face with happiness and Azure trotted over towards Jack.

        ‘Animal Lord. We meet again,’ Azure communicated with Jack as she lowered her head. ‘I am Azure. You saved my life before and now I will protect you until my heart fails to beat anymore.’

        ‘Don’t think like that!’

        ‘I can sense the future sometimes and your future is powerful.’

        ‘Don’t tell me then!’

        Jack chuckled as Azure shook her fur. As Storm got off Mist and licked the cut on his paw again, Jack frowned and looked at Mist with a slightly worried face. Mist held Storm’s paw and looked at the cut. She pulled some anti-septic from her rucksack and sprayed the cut before using some fabric to cover it. Storm whined and whimpered as she did all this but she reassured him.

        Thunder clouds started gathering overhead and Jack looked up. He hadn’t ever been caught out in a storm. The dark, shadowy clouds looked menacing and Jack jumped as thunder crashed; louder then any Jack had ever heard.

        Wifusia poked Jack with her claw. ‘We have to move out. The storm; we won’t be able to fly if it advances any further into a rage. We cannot stay here.’

        Jack nodded then turned to Mist. “We gotta move out. If we don’t fly now we’ll be stuck here; stuck here helpless in a storm. Surrounded by a forest which could go up in blazes if lightning strikes. I don’t want to die, alone, in a forest.”

        “You’re not alone. You’ve got me,” said Mist, smiling.

        Jack gave a slight smile back, winking as he did. Behind him, Wifusia flapped her wings impatiently then sat on the ground, eying Jack. Jack climbed onto Wifusia’s back then offered his hand to Mist to help her up. As she did so, Wifusia looked to the sky. The clouds were thundering louder then anything she had ever heard. As soon as Mist was sat on her back, Wifusia spread her wing, outstretched her talons and, as she took off, gripped Azure and Storm then flew into the heart of the storm.

        Jack held fast to her feathers as she sped faster and faster, hoping to ride the storm to another, safer place. ‘Like flying into a storm is going to be any safer then being exposed in any town or village…’ Jack thought to himself, slightly worried at what was about to happen.

Three long hours passed. The storm never seemed to end or to weaken – growing stronger if anything – and Wifusia was tiring. All the while, Mist was fiddling about with some wires of some sort. Jack glanced back at her. In the three hours that they were flying, Mist seemed to have thrown together some sort of a GPS device; she kept looking intently at a crude and cracked screen and then to her surroundings. Jack had suspicions that Mist’s power had something to do with technical stuff.

        “You’re really into your techno-babble aren’t you?”

        Mist replied, not looking eye to eye, but between her GPS thing and the clouds. “Yup. Always loved how stuff worked. My dad was an inventor. Mum never approved of me helping him; she said it wasn’t right. So she moved and took me with her…”

        “Sheesh, she never gave you much of a chance did she?”

        “But that didn’t stop me. I got even more productive, made more stuff. My mum got angry. Then this happened.”

        Jack looked ahead of him. He blinked sadly once, then shut his eyes and listened to his surroundings. He blocked out the noise of the storm and could hear Wifusia’s gentle yet powerful wing beats, her steady breathing and her heartbeat. He could also hear a flock of birds, so far away, fleeing the storm, taking shelter. He felt their frantic flight path and their panicked calls; their fear for their safety. The comparison between Wifusia and the flock was enormous. Jack then reached out to feel Azure and Storm’s emotions. Storm was having the time of his life. Azure felt like this was something that happened often; she was calm and relaxed.

        Jack’s eyes snapped open when something disturbed him. Something was wrong; very wrong.

        Mist’s eyes grew wide as she looked at her GPS device. “We’ve moved...,” faltered Mist. “From Britain t-to Russia…?!”

        ‘It was a portal in the clouds. The shadow beasts… They really want your necks. Britain didn’t have enough people for you to get your comeuppance. Russia still has a death penalty. The shadow beasts want to gone, dead. They find it easier if humans prosecute other humans; they remain un-noticed and their goals are still complete,’ said Azure to Jack. She looked up at him from where Wifusia held her in her left foot. ‘We must flee from here as fast as possible. News travels fast. All the victims of the shadow beasts are known here because they can be disposed of so easily…’

        As Azure trailed off worryingly, Wifusia dived, almost exhausted.

As soon as they landed, Storm and Azure leapt from her talons and Jack and Mist jumped off her back. Wifusia folded her wings in and closed her eyes, tired. She drifted off quickly. With a happy sigh, Jack sat down next to the tired bird. The sky was still raging; and Jack could see how easily it was for the shadow beasts to set a trap and bring them elsewhere. He sighed and snuggled into Wifusia’s feathers for warmth. Wifusia hummed contently and carried on sleeping. Mist hugged onto Storm’s neck and he nuzzled his snout onto her.

        Azure however looked to the sky. Her nose twitched as lightning struck. Her ears flicked back and she howled to the stricken sky. Other wolves howled back, as if in conversation.

        Jack looked at Azure. Azure howled once more and gazed towards Jack, making eye contact.

        ‘You’ve been here before haven’t you?’ asked a curious Jack.

        Azure’s sad eyes looked back, like crystals. ‘Yes. I can morph my shape and I have come here many times; that portal in the clouds we traveled through,’ she gazed skywards, ‘you’re not the first. Many more like you, hunted, transported; killed.’

        Jack didn’t like how that sentence ended. He gulped as Azure walked over.

        ‘I was meant to protect them; the victims of the shadow beasts. But this trap was unexpected. I am but one. While I have allies they cannot tell people like you from normal people. I hope you and Mist survive long enough to return home.’

        Jack nodded and Azure lay down at his feet. Jack felt safe around her; after all, she was a shape shifting, wolf guardian. Sort of. Azure curled up and covered her head with her tail before quickly becoming in as deep a sleep as Wifusia. Jack looked in Mist’s direction. She was playing about with Storm for the first time since Jack had rescued her, and her memory.

        Jack sighed. He needed rest. As he rested his head against Wifusia’s side and closed his eyes, he thought back to his past; his life before all of this happening. He remembered his dad and his old pet, his feelings when his mum made his dad leave and all the less happy times thereon. He then thought about what he was doing on the day that he was taken.

        That morning, Jack was walking through a field. Birds always watched him and he did wonder why, but he now knew. He thought nothing of it then but when a wild, injured deer allowed him close that day, he began to wonder.

        He remembered how blue the sky was as he walked on to the crystal forest. It was a natural phenomena, having appeared seemingly from nowhere, and was still unexplained. Jack always thought it was odd how he, and the animals, were always the only ones ever in the crystal forest. His mum knew nothing of it and insisted he should let go of imaginary places. Jack’s mum never listened to him, not after she made his dad leave.

        It wasn’t any different when he phoned her. He remembered that phone call he made, all the sudden hate. He had done nothing wrong, he wasn’t even aware of the events that had happened following his kidnapping by the shadow beast that was a sabre-toothed tiger.

        He hated the shadow creatures for all that they stood for and vowed to himself, quietly, that one day he would be rid of them so that people like him with powers were not treated like criminals.

        Jack sighed a final time and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 9: Nightmares

Jack’s dream was the most disturbing he dreamt in a while.

        He dreamt he was walking through a town; a ghost town. The ground was slightly black – burnt - and the houses and buildings were broken and wrecked. He looked down at his feet then looked up again. A sudden mob of people stood in front of him, and among them were several police officers. Instead of normal eyes, these people had raging balls of black fire.

        “This is just a dream!” Jack tried to reassure himself as the sky turned swiftly a deep green. His gaze shot upwards as it did so, the shadow creature that was the sabre-toothed tiger leaping from one ruined rooftop to another. He could hear its deep chuckles.

        “I’M AFRAID YOUR END IS NEAR ANIMAL LORD!”

        Jack was hating this dream as he yelled back, “THIS IS JUST A DREAM!”

        The mob laughed and Jack redirected his gaze back to them. They were seeming less and less human by the minute. They started approaching Jack and he used all his strength to call animals by his side. He could feel that they were there but they weren’t coming; they couldn’t, something was stopping them.

        Jack was alone in this dream. “Why are you doing this?!” he screamed at the mob, afraid.

        Someone yelled back. A farmer, but not a farmer. As this ‘man’ stepped forward, pitchfork in hand, Jack looked at his feet.

        Shadowy wisps in the rough form of paws were where his feet should have been and Jack began to slowly back away.

        “You destroyed our town! We were peaceful then you came along, with a pack of cats and massive wolves at your command and you told them to tear our little place apart! Then you set some of our houses alight! That’s why we locked up every good for nothing animal after we killed those beasts!”

        Jack faltered. He knew this wasn’t real but it felt like back when Tyger was still around. “I haven’t done anything! I don’t remember any of this, I wouldn’t do this…!”

        But the mob in this dream would have none of it. The police officers started to step towards him and their ethereal, lifeless eyes bore into Jack’s inner soul. He had a fear, a fear that was not kindled, for these people in his dream. He thought they would really kill him as he slept.

        Jack tried to wake up. He couldn’t bring himself round. So instead he addressed the officers.

        “So what happens now? This is just a dream,” said Jack, looking about for the sabre-toothed tiger again. “You can’t kill me!”

        “But you do not know what we can do; or what we are,” replied the farmer, eyes burning stronger as it fed off Jack’s fear.

***

Mist shook Jack awake and he yelled out. Mist looked at him in surprise.

        “What was that for?” she asked, curious.

        Jack explained the dream to her. He was scared that the events of the dream would really happen and that he would be at the mercy of the creatures.

        Mist took his hand in hers and looked into his eyes. It was like a warm comfort for Jack, knowing that she had proper eyes, not shadowy fireballs.

        “Don’t let it scare you,” said Mist, her voice soft and gentle.

        “Too late for that,” was Jack’s reply. He was shaking; not only because of the cold but because of how scared he was. He wondered how Mist wasn’t cold, seeing as she just wore a plain white t-shirt and jeans. Jack still had his tattered leather jacket and was wearing that, as well as a pale green shirt and grey jogging bottoms.

        Wifusia fluffed her feathers and Jack felt a tad warmer. He looked at the sky. The storm had died but it was still gloomy. He checked his watch. He knew it would be correct because it had a Global Tracking Device fitted in it, so it would easily adjust accordingly. ‘Wednesday 3^rd December, 6:55am.’

        Jack sighed as Azure walked past. She and Jack made wordless eye contact as she trotted off – to hunt was Jack’s assumption.

        He had only just noticed that he and his friends were by a lake. It was clear blue and the water was still. Behind him was a small forest, nowhere near as large as where he had started.

 ‘They’re clever. Forest to a different, unknown forest. Most people wouldn’t notice a change.’

        Birds flew over-head and Jack once again wished he was one of them. If he was, he knew he could so easily escape this hell he was living in and fly free; fly free forever.

***

Jack had yet another nightmare that night. He was stood atop a hill, overlooking a vast valley. Half of it was alight with fire. The sky was full of smoke and Jack was finding it hard to breathe.

        He looked to his right. Jack was startled when he saw Mist there. She was glaring him down with the same eyes of black fire. Her hair was no longer the stunning golden colour but in fact a hazy dark grey, almost black. It looked almost as it was also smoke but the darker shading made Jack sure that it wasn’t.

        Jack looked back down to the valley. He suddenly realised that his hand was stinging so he raised it to see why it hurt. A gash cut across his palm and he knew it immediately; it was a swipe of a knife.

        He looked back at Mist, stunned silent at what he saw below. He looked this nightmare version of Mist up and down and saw in her hand she held a knife of black obsidian; almost as black as her blank eyes. From the knife itself seeped a red and black smoke.

        Nightmare Mist took a step towards Jack and he raised his hands slightly.

        “Why have you destroyed the valley?!” Mist demanded, clutching the makeshift knife tight, her knuckle white.

        “I didn’t do it!” Jack protested. He looked Mist with his eyes brimming as he continued. “You know that! You off all people know that I” – he held his hand over his heart – “wouldn’t ever do that!”

        As he moved his hand to signal the flaming valley, he noticed the sky was the same colour as his last nightmare.

        Mist’s eyes showed no emotion; no mercy for Jack. They remained as black spheres of fire and – no matter how hard Jack wished – they didn’t change back to her gentle eyes that he knew.

        Jack ran his fingers through his hair nervously. He only noticed then that his hair was flat against his forehead and he was sweating with nerves. At that moment, a deep chuckle reverberated through the valley. Jack cursed loudly, shouting his anger for all the world of his nightmares to hear.

        Mist narrowed her eyes and Jack supposed he was slightly glad because he could see less of those chilling eyes. He reached out to the nearby animals only to get no response. He closed his eyes as Mist took another step closer to him.

        She spoke, but not with the voice Jack knew. The shadow sabre-toothed tiger’s voice rasped from her mouth. “WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE THAT WE CAN’T KILL YOU IN YOUR DREAMS? WE HAD OUR PORTAL GET YOU TO RUSSIA. WE’VE REMAINED UNKNOWN FOR MANY A CENTURY. YOU MAY HAVE POWER BUT WE HAVE MORE.”

        Jack opened one eye and stepped back, finding his back against a rock. It was icy cold and Jack felt like it was freezing him to it. He was paralysed with fear as the knife point was held again

“THE END IS NEAR ANIMAL LORD.”

        “Then let it come. I will die if I must.”

        Mist hesitated and pressed the knife harder against Jack’s throat.

***

Jack woke suddenly. He sat up quickly, making himself dizzy, and held his forehead. His breathing was unsteady and he close his eyes slowly.

        The day was young and the rays of sunlight barely broke the horizon. Jack gazed at the clear sky. He marvelled at the soft orange colour that was there and appreciated every second of wonder. Leaning back on a tree, he watched the silhouettes of massive flocks of birds flying on by.

        He closed his eyes, listening to the gentle bird song all around him. As he did so, he thought about how he’d get back. He thought about asking Wifusia if she’d be able to fly back but he remained unsure if she was strong enough to.

Weavers of the Dark Paths: Chapters 1-7

The first 27 pages...

Angels of Shadow chapter 6 and 7

                                              Chapter

                                                   6

The Doctor stopped momentarily. A physic message came through to him and then he knew Tom, human Tom, was no more.

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Amy looked upset as she wandered over to the Doctor and hugged him. Surprised, he hugged her back and held her tight. “Pond, he’s not human any more. Physic message, humans are not, umm, advanced enough yet.”

“Oi! What did he say?” The Doctor looked at Amy and smiled sadly. He whispered in Pond’s ear. “He said to me this. ‘I’m coming for your blood. Time Lord.’ We need to run. Now” He pulled Amy along, Amy giving a little scream as he did.

The Doctor and Amy caught up with Rory and Belle soon enough. The only thing was, they weren’t moving. The four of them found they were at a waterfall.

“A waterfall? I never knew and I’ve lived here all my life....”

“No time for that, we need to find another way out!” Several readings were taken on the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver then, for the second time in their visit, the Doctor licked something. Belle looked in confusion and Rory gave her a ‘this is normal’ look. The Doctor looked crest fallen. “The only way out is back, into the hands of my would be killer. We need to climb down.” Forbaith Tom burst through the crystal trees, followed by Gortail and the rest of his clan. Tom’s scarlet eyes looked around for the Doctor, who was hiding behind a tree.

“Come out; come out, where ever you are! You can’t hide forever!” Tom said as he sniffed the air. “I know you’re here! Now come out, or your red head friend gets it!!!” Tom grabbed Amy and pinned her to the ground, head over hanging the edge. His eyes raged like a forest fire and he looked about to bite into Amy.

“RORY!!! DOCTOR!!!” Screamed Amy. The other Forbaith looked for the time lord then a high pitched whirring screamed into the early morning. The Doctor casually stepped from behind his hiding place to see the Forbaith all in clutching their eyes with their paws. Amy nearly slid off the over hang but Rory caught her in an instant. Tom looked even angrier than before and he pounced at the Doctor, screwdriver flung out of his hand and coming so close to plummeting off the edge and down the waterfall. Tom’s claws were pressing into the Doctor’s chest and he couldn’t do anything, his screwdriver was under his foot, Amy and Rory were being pushed towards to waterfall’s edge and Belle... Where was she? Belle had gone and the Doctor feared for her. Sharp claws now were putting serious pressure on the Doctor’s chest and he felt about to choke. He swallowed. He never thought it would end this way, his friends on the edge of an abyss, another of his friends probably being hunted by the Forbaith and he was going to be stabbed through both hearts by a Forbaith who used to be his friend. Closing his eyes, the Doctor felt the pressure increase even more. Then it just stopped. Gasping for breath, the Doctor saw another Forbaith; it had knocked Tom off the Doctor’s chest. It was Belle. Her eyes were still blue and she smiled at the Time Lord. She then went on to make the Forbaith herding the Ponds towards the edge flee as she looked a cold stare at them. The Doctor picked up his screwdriver and stood up and he hugged Belle warmly, and then gave an equally warm hug to the Ponds.

“Feeling better?” Belle asked the TARDIS trio as they finished hugging. The smiles she received told her they were and she changed back to human form.

“How can you do that? I am loving that!!!”

“Like you said, strong will.” Behind them, Gortail and Tom looked murderous. Tom’s mouth was drooling as he looked in the direction of the Doctor, Gortail looked at Belle and Amy and Rory looked at each other, worried.

“If looks could kill.... Anyway, you had better run back to the rest of your pack, if you know what’s good for you,” the Doctor said to the two remaining Forbaith, brandishing the screwdriver.

“Next time. Doctor, I swear the next time we see I will you personally.” Tom snarled at the Doctor and left. Sighing, the Doctor returned the sonic screwdriver to his inside pocket. When the Doctor was sure all the Forbaith were out of ear shot, he ran off to get out of the forest. Amy ran after him, followed then by Belle. Rory stood for a minute, reluctant to run, yet again. Kicking at some of the crystal chips, he looked over the edge at the waterfall. And nearly fell off as what he saw sent a chill down his spine. Then he blacked out.

Tom had knocked out Rory. He knew what had happened but had no intention of keeping him. His only intention was taking the life of Time Lord and drinking his blood. He would this traitor and the blue box to get to the Doctor. As the Forbaith took the unconscious Rory back, he smiled grimly and licked his lips. He to his side as Gortail came to his side.

“Time lord for dinner tonight. My friend, we will shall be avenged with the death of the last of the time lords. All our families will be avenged. The Time Lords failed to stop our planet burning in the hands of the Daleks so the Doctor’s friends will fail to stop us ripping out his hearts. This ends tonight.”

                                              Chapter

                                                   7

“Doctor, why were Tom’s eyes red?” Amy was unsure as she entered the village behind the Doctor.

“He was changed with murder and rage in his mind. That’s all. That’s also why he took Rory,” Amy hadn’t even notice her husband’s absence and looked around as Belle came through.

“How do you know?”

“Physic message again. I have to meet them at first dawn.” The Doctor gazed at the half light sun, noticing that the beams of heavenly light were already peeking through. “That gives me half an hour until the sun rises....”

Rory awoke with a start. He found himself staring at a damp, black ceiling. He looked around the dimly lit room and wished he hadn’t. In the corner was a skeleton of a human, and the smell! Rory was nearly sick from the grotesque scent. He spotted a door with a small window and ran up to it to look out. The door was covered in green slime but Rory ignored it. Peering out, he saw he was being guarded by three Forbaith. He tried to break down the door but reckoned he would break himself before he did. One of the Forbaith looked around to him and growled. Rory lent against the door and slid down it. Sitting lent against the metal door, clothes covered in slime, he put his head in his arms and started to cry.

“Oh, Amy. I hope you and the Doctor are okay...”

The Doctor was pacing up and down the village centre, biting his nails, slapping his forehead, acting like a man possessed. Amy was biting her nails for a different reason. Rory. She was scared about what they might do to him. Amy looked up. The sun was rising and she heard a rustling in the woods behind her. Belle was alert and the Forbaith pack stepped out, lead by Tom and Gortail. A familiar voice came from behind Tom and Gortail as Rory was pushed forwards, clothes slimed. His hands were tied behind his back and Rory exclaimed in joy to see that Amy was alright. “Oh my god, Amy, never do that again!!!” Rory yelled out at Amy as the TARDIS came into view.

“TARDIS!!! Yes, my TARDIS is okay!!!” Amy just looked at the Doctor as he jumped up and down like a three year old at Christmas. He ran towards his beloved TARDIS but was pushed back by a Forbaith. He went back to join Amy and Belle and he slipped Amy the TARDIS key and his sonic screwdriver. “Just in case. You know what to do.” Amy looked up at the Doctor and slipped them in her back pocket.

“Time Lord. This ends now. Come with us and your friend and box will be released.”

“And if I don’t?”

“He dies and the box thrown into the waterfall,” Tom’s voice gave an annoying finality. The Doctor thought for a minute and gazed at Rory, then back to Amy and Belle. He mouthed a ‘sorry’ to them all and Amy knew what he was going to do. Rory seemed to know too and shook his head at Amy.

“Doctor, don’t.”

“Amy, I have to. I know what I’m doing,” he closed his eyes and Rory was let go. He stumbled as they pushed him away them he went over to Amy, who looked at him.

“Long story,” Rory said. “I’ll explain later,” Amy, Rory and Belle turned back to where the Doctor and the Forbaith were but they were gone. All that stood there now was the TARDIS. Amy pulled the key out of her pocket and stood looking at it. Walking over to the TARDIS, Amy knew she had to do something, as did Rory and Belle. Amy opened the TARDIS door and gestured for Rory and Belle to come in. Belle’s reaction was more than predictable as she stepped into the TARDIS. Belle looked at Amy.

“Big, yeah?”

“It’s bigger.... On the inside....”

“You’ll get used to it,” Amy said to her as the approached the console. Rory headed up the stairs to change his clothes and Amy pulled a lever. And it all went tonto.

The Doctor was being lead by Tom and Gortail. He wandered slowly, hands in pockets, head looking to the clear skies above him. He looked behind him and he couldn’t see the other Forbaith but he knew they were there. Every now and then amber eyes flitted by in the shadows of the crystal trees. The Doctor hoped Amy knew what she was doing and that she, Rory and Belle would keep his beloved TARDIS and faithful sonic screwdriver safe. Gaze floating back down, the Doctor found himself nearly walking into the Forbaith that was Tom.

“Watch it, Time Lord... You’re lucky that I don’t tear you limb from limb right here, right now,” the Doctor held up his hands in apology as Tom snarled at him. He found they had stopped at the Forbaith base. The door hissed open and the Doctor was pushed in from behind. Not wanting any more bruises from being shoved around, the Doctor walked on behind Tom and Gortail. The interior of the space ship was beautiful. When the Doctor had last been here he didn’t have time to look at the décor. He gazed around him, awestruck. He whistled. “Blimey, done a lot to your ship since the last time. Mind you, there was a war goin-umph!” The Doctor hit the floor hard as a Forbaith leapt out of the shadows at him, rendering the Doctor, for the third time, unconscious.

Angels if Shadow chapter 5

Chapter

5

Amy was being shaken about. She thought it was very sweet of Rory to give her a lift but it wasn’t very smooth. She shouldn’t complain, but she had to. About to speak, they stopped beside the lake in front of a space ship. Amy’s mouth hung open like a cave. The ship was a vast contrast to the violet forest of crystals. It was a pure, snowy white, save for the crystals that had started to grow on it. In the doorway stood a man, a man with wings of all things! Amy, jumping off Wolf Rory’s back, ran over to the Doctor, confused. Amy was about to ask the Doctor what was going on but the man spoke first.

“Doctor, I presume,” he spoke as he stepped into the moonlight. “How nice for the last of the Time Lords to pay humble, little me a visit.” Amy was struck by the man’s eyes immediately but Rory, his strong will changing him human again, covered her eyes.

“Don’t look. Amy, I don’t want this to happen to you too,” whispered Rory, wings fading as he spoke. Belle, now also human, looked around them for Tom as the Doctor spoke. “Well, Gortail. Long time, no see. Still up to your old tricks are you? Last time I saw you, you let your clan kill me. Well, they didn’t succeed. I’m still alive and well. Tell me, where are the humans you took? Hmm?”

“These two are strong,” he said, indicating Rory and Belle. “But the others are not. You are too late. They have turned already. The midnight solar storm was all I needed....” The Doctor looked at his watch. He flinched. It read 12:03. Three minutes too late to save the villagers. But he could still save Belle and Rory, maybe even Tom’s parents, if they were alive.

“But I wouldn’t worry about what I could do to your friends right now. I’d worry about that gun pointed at your head...”

Belle, Rory and the Doctor turned their heads as one, to see Tom aiming a gun at the Doctor’s head.

“Doctor? Rory?” Rory realised he still had his hands over his wife’s eyes. He released  his hands and Amy saw what Tom was doing. He had his crosshairs between the Doctor’s eyes.

“Tom! Stop it! He’s trying to help!”

“So he says. Look at the evidence. He’s an alien, he turns up at the time when villagers are vanishing, he know this, this, thing and he’s done NOTHING TO HELP US!!!” Tom’s shouts reverberated through the night, birds flying scared from their roosts.

“Tom, no! He is a good man. When Gortail turned me like this I saw his past. The Doctor nearly died to save a whole planet.” Tom didn’t care. His anger couldn’t control itself any more and Tom pulled the trigger.

The last thing the Doctor knew was happening was that Tom had fired at gun at his head and Amy was screaming. Then, blackness. But he was alive. Someone had threw the Doctor out of the way, into the ground, as Tom pulled the trigger. A man, someone different from Gortail, had saved the Doctor’s life and was struggling for his own.

“Oh, son. What has happened to you? You were such a bright child...” Tom dropped the gun. He looked at his hands, then to the (once again) unconscious Doctor, and finally at the Time Lord’s saviour.

“Dad? What... What’s going on?”

“We weren’t taking them , they volunteered. And Gortail only came to get us back.”

“But why Belle?”

“And why me?” Interjected Rory. Amy hushed him with a kiss. The Doctor came round, rubbing his head then pulling out his screwdriver. He was going to scan the bullet-wounded Forbaith but he pushed him away. “That was me. I was trying to save them. I got the others to volunteer but no more. Gortail wanted to take more people by force. Doctor, you’ve seen our war and I saw you be nearly killed by my brothers...”

“Raze, thanks again. This is the second time you’ve saved my life from him and his clan,” he looked sadly at Tom. “You’re half Forbaith. You dad was a brother of the Black Wolf Clan and your mm was human and...”

“Doctor, his mother was killed by Gortail. He wouldn’t allow her into the clan... I’m sorry son, I’m so...,” but he spoke no more. Nor did he breath. Rory and Belle felt a weight be lifted from them and knew when this Forbaith had just died, his control died with him. Belle’s eyes were brimming, Tom’s dad was the best man she knew. Even better than her own father, who left her. Tom again picked up the gun and aimed straight at the Doctor again.

Tom was shaking. This only made his anger worse. There was no-one left for him to go to now, and he knew his true self. Gortail smiled grimly at Tom, who had his finger tightly round the trigger.

“You could have saved him, but you didn’t! You coward!!!” Amy looked to Belle and Belle winked at her. She mouthed to Amy and she nodded back.

“Tom, he’s not a coward. He once sacrificed his life for the universe, was only able to come back because I remembered him, he’s been travelling the universe for centuries and seen many lives lost. And he’s saved unimaginable amounts of people.”

“And I has seen what war does to people. Tom, I’ve been there. You mourn but you live. My friends and family, gone. Lost in the time war. Like I said, last of my kind.” Tom believed none of this and tightened his finger just that much more.

“RUN!!!!” Yelled the Doctor in the nick of time. He had darted away into the depths of the forest as Tom fired. Amy, Rory and Belle all ran behind the Doctor, Tom still shooting from the clearing. A sudden silence washed over the forest as Tom stopped shooting. All bullets gone, he turned to Gortail and uttered his last words as a human. “I want to join you.” Gortail just looked at him, and then Tom changed. But Tom was different from the rest of the clan. His eyes were scarlet and he was thirsty for blood. Time Lord blood.

Angels of Shadow chapter 4

                                                  Chapter

                                                       4

“This is how I remember it. I’m standing in the forest, by the lake and see this wolf. Massive, with wings. Then I felt all weird, like I was in a dream. I tried moving but I couldn’t. I remember seeing the Doctor’s face then he was on the floor the next moment and taking his screwdriver. But it wasn’t my hand. I had a paw! And I was a wolf! I was in shock and if I was in control of my body I would have fainted. Then I took his screwdriver to the wolf over the lake and he took it from me, keeping it in his pocket when he changed into an angel person. Quite a lot of walking through the forest. A spaceship. Being made to guard the door of the room they put the Doctor in. Suddenly, I had to come back here. Walked back then I woke here. That’s all I remember.”

“So, that’s how you tell two hours of your life to me then?”

“Two hours?!”

“Yep.”

“Ohhh.....,” moaned Rory. He looked at his wife and mouthed a ‘sorry’. He looked behind Amy and saw the sun was setting. The Doctor paced up and down the room like a caged tiger thinking up an escape plan. The Doctor was making an escape plan, but not for him.

“Think, think, think!!!” The Doctor was still pacing, hitting his head and nearly pulling his hair out like a maniac. Rory felt as if a cricket bat hit him on the head as he watched the sky darken with the lowering sun. Belle felt it too, head in hands, moaning. Tom and Amy just watched the Doctor with awe as he carried on whacking his head, unaware of Belle and Rory. Only when the door creaked open did the Doctor stop. Rory and Belle were walking out the door, acting like zombies. The Doctor tried to stop them but they were too fast. Poking his head around the door, he caught a glimpse of Wolf Rory and Belle run, together, towards the forest. The Doctor just stared for a long moment then turned back in. He looked worriedly at Amy, then at Tom.

“If we’re going after them, it’s going to be a long night...”

Tom just smiled and said to them “Stay here tonight and we can look around tomorrow.” Nodding, the Doctor and Amy followed Tom up the stairs.

Gortail stood in the doorway of his base, waiting for his pack to come. He had a new plan. He was going to finish start making these humans his. Forever.

“Chief, are you sure you want to accelerate the plans?” It was Gortail’s second-in-command. A grim smile washed over Gortail’s face. “Yes. We have been discovered and we will need as many fighters as possible and I can’t control their individual wills forever. Taking them tonight will allow me to save my powers for the oncoming fight and tonight is the only night that will allow me that. The solar storm will make them mine. Forever....”

Standing at the window of the bedroom Tom let them stay in, the Doctor pondered about how to get his friends and the villagers back to normal. He looked to the sky and then over his shoulder to a sleeping Amy. Looking at the sky again, as if for answers, a sudden flush of realisation flooded over him. Horrified, he looked at his watch. Ten past nine. He had just under three hours to get everyone back.

“Good thing I put a tracker on Rory.... I need to get the villagers and Rory back before midnight tonight or they’ll never be back. Solar storms, beautiful event but any power craving alien will want to use that....” He looked at Amy again, blissful in her sleep. Smiling, he walked over to the door and quietly walked out and down the stairs. To his surprise, Tom was waiting at the bottom, holding two guns.

“I knew you would go out looking for them, you wouldn’t leave your friend. Not tonight.”

“Not any night. What’s the gun for?” Tom just handed him a pistol. Flapping his arms and looking worried, the Doctor just looked Tom in the eyes and said, “I’m not taking a gun and neither are you. You say it’s for protection but I know you want to kill them. I don’t carry guns and I don’t kill either. We would be out numbered and dead in an instant.” Reluctantly, Tom left the guns. Smiling his mad ‘I have a plan’ smile, the Doctor darted off, followed shortly after by a bemused Tom.

Gortail fingered the device. All he had succeeded in doing was making the thing extent and buzz. The green end fascinated him but apart from going green and buzzing, Gortail found it useless. Reports had come to him about a mysterious blue box that was not too far from the forest. He thought deeply, nearly too deeply as he nearly fell asleep, if the buzzing green device and blue wooden box had anything to do with the strangers in his forest. He dismissed the thought and the box came through the doorway with the wolves, but two of them were missing....

As Tom and the Doctor ran through the forest to catch up with Wolf Rory, the Doctor thought about what Tom said when he first met him. He lost both parents then this happens.... Something occurred to the Doctor and he froze with shock. The Forbaith had used his parents so they knew how to do all of this!

“Tom! Stop, it’s got to be a trap!”

“How is it a trap? Doctor, they have our friends!” The Doctor shook his head as Tom turned to face him. He spoke softly. “Exactly. They want us! Tom, you told me you lost your parents then this started happening. They used your parents Tom, only so they could do all of this. They must have experimented on them, to find out how long it took to control humans and all that mambo jambo.”

“Are they alive?”

“I don’t know. I can’t be sure. But I can be sure that we have to stop here. Now. Right this second.”

“Doctor....”

“What is it now!?” Tom pointed over his shoulder and the Doctor turned. One of the wolves stumbled toward them. The Doctor crouched down and gave a mad smile as another wolf came from behind. And to Tom’s surprise, it was Wolf Rory!

“Doctor, help us....” Wolf Rory collapsed beside the other wolf, which the Doctor knew was Belle.

“Blimey, you two must have strong wills to come here and actually talk to me!!!” Wolf Rory opened his mouth and in his mouth was the Doctor’s beloved sonic screwdriver. It was the Doctor’s turn to be surprised. It fell to the ground and the Doctor, with a handy tissue from his pocket picked it up. Cleaning it thoroughly, he activated it. Wolf Rory and Wolf Belle covered their eyes, as did Tom. The Doctor looked around and saw them, ears covered, moaning in pain, though Wolf Rory was yelping at him.

“Doctor, STOP!!!” As the Doctor stopped the buzzing which he was unaffected by, he saw Amy in the clearing. The Doctor scratched the back of his head and smiled like the madman Amy knew when she was seven.

“Pond! Umm, how did you know we were here?”

“Woke up, saw you left me, ran out here then followed that horrid noise.” Amy looked at the Doctor, giving him that ‘how could you be so stupid’ face.

“Time Lord hearing. Must be narrower than human hearing....” Adjusting the settings on his screwdriver, he tried again. Wolf Rory stood up, shaking his head.

“Amy!” His eyes lit up, but they were no longer amber. Amy ran over to her husband and gave him a massive hug, despite the fact he was a winged wolf. The Doctor sat on a fallen crystal tree and closed his eyes. “How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Fight the influence of the Forbaith.”

“They made us get the TARDIS, and something just clicked when I saw it. Like a light bulb inside me switched on. I dragged Belle away but it took a while for her to get, you know, like how I am.” Wolf Belle woke up and saw Tom, who looked like a volcano about to explode.

“Tom?”

“Belle, he’s an alien.”

“What?”

“I thought we’d established that!!! Before you do anything, I’m the last of the Time Lords from the lost planet Gallifrey and I’m trying to help, so! Lets go,” the Doctor ran off, Wolf Rory following (with Amy on his back...) then Wolf Belle. Tom stood there. He no longer trusted the Doctor. He never told them this. And what sort of name is ‘The Doctor’? Tom knew there must have been something he wasn’t telling them. He drew out a pistol which he had hidden under his shirt and went after the Doctor for a very different reason. He had to be rid of him, he must have been in a league with the Forbaith for all this time! That was the only way he knew about what happened to his parents and he must be lying about them being dead. A thousand reasons in his head, some about his mum and dad still alive but imprisoned, he set off, gun fully loaded, for the Doctor. And he was going to take him down.

Angels of Shadow part 2 and 3

Chapter

                                                    2

Gortail entered his base, his clan sitting in there, waiting.

“Warriors of my clan. We are discovered. Intruders are in the forest and in time will find us. We must stop the humans!” A cry went up in their base. Gortail changed into his wolf form and, followed by the rest of his clan, ran off in the direction of Rory and the Doctor....

“What are we actually up against?” Rory asked the Doctor, unsure.

“From what Belle told me, bright girl, very detailed, we are dealing with Forbaith. Their different clans give them different shape shifting powers. Belle said they were black wolves so this clan must be the Black Wolf Clan. I met them once, nasty bunch. Never fully answered your questions. Always trying to turn you into one of them to avoid full answers,” stated the Doctor, still running. But then they found they could run no more for they found they were at a lake.

“So, Doctor, is this the lake Belle was talking about?” As way of reply the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and started to take readings. While the Doctor was busying himself Rory gazed across the lake. Standing there was a large, black wolf. With wings. Rory was about to speak but felt so entranced by the creature he just stood and stared. Noticing something wasn’t right, or rather noticing Rory wasn’t asking stupid questions again, the Doctor turned back to Rory to find him gazing across the lake, stalk still. And his eyes. They were amber.

“Rory, ignore the wolf over the lake and focus on me,” the Doctor said to Rory, holding his shoulders, shaking him. He walked round the back of Rory and, to his horror; found wings had grown from his back.

“No..... Amy will kill you! Rory, SNAP OUT OF IT!!!” The Doctor yelled in Rory’s face, waving around his screwdriver. The Doctor blinked and a controlled Rory took this chance because in that exact moment the Doctor blinked, Rory’s eyes turned red. The Doctor fell to the ground, screwdriver nearly rolling into the lake. Rory reached down to pick it up, but it wasn’t a hand that retrieved the sonic. It was a black wolf paw. Sonic in paw, Wolf Rory flew over the lake to Gortail. Just as he did, the rest of Gortail’s clan stood over the unconscious Doctor........

                                        Chapter

                                             3

Amy was bored. She sighed as she tapped her pencil against the table. All the girls she talked told her either the same as Belle them or that they couldn’t remember anything at all. She waited for her boys to come back; they had been gone 2 hours.

“Oh, Doctor. What could the pair of you be doing that takes this long.... I’m not waited for years again. Doctor, I wish you and Rory could hurry up....,” Amy muttered as she remembered all those years ago waiting twelve for her Doctor. “Come on, stupid face..... Doctor, you better get back here now or just you wait ‘til I get my hands on you!”

“Did you say my name?” Amy turned and saw the Doctor poking his head around the doorway. She thought Rory would be behind him but he wasn’t.

“Doctor, where’s Rory? And, more importantly, where were the pair you?” Amy asked the Doctor as she hugged him.

“Ah.... Well...,” the Doctor sat down and started to explain.

After the Doctor’s story of what happened to Rory, he then went on to explain what happened afterwards. He told that Amy he remembered waking up in an empty room.

“It was weird. One minute I’m talking to Rory, telling him to snap out of it and the next I was in a room on a spaceship.”

“How did you know it was a space ship?”

“I licked it.”

“Should’ve known.”

“Anyway, I looked through the window in door and it was guarded by Wolf Rory and one of the Forbaith.”

“Okay, again, how did you know who guarded you? Meaning, how did you know it was Rory and a Forbaith?”

“Wolf Rory still had light brown fur on the top of his head and the Forbaith is just really quite big, twice the size of any of the vanished girls when they were wolves. Okay, so I’m trying to figure out what to do then Wolf Rory wandered off, back in human form, wings gone. The Forbaith seemed went of too and I picked the lock because my sonic screwdriver was gone. I got out and ran back here but I saw no sign of Wolf Rory or normal Rory.”

“Do you know where he is?” Amy asked the Doctor, worry showing in her eyes. The Doctor shook his head then got up to look for him, Amy in tow.

Rory woke up and saw Belle, Tom, Amy and the Doctor near by. The Doctor sat eating a Jammy Dodger, Amy was standing over him and Belle and Tom sat talking to the Doctor.

“Amy...”

“Come here, stupid face!” Rory was hauled up by Amy and they hugged. Tom got up and walked over to the Ponds.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, head’s a bit, you know, sore. It’s all better know ‘cause I’m back with Amy!” Walking over, hands in pockets, chewing, the Doctor asked Rory one question;

“What happened from your point of view?” Rory flopped back down on the sofa from which he was asleep on only moments before. He thought for a minute. Thinking about how to tell his story, he took a deep breath and started to tell his story.

Angels of Shadow chapter 1

A metallic throbbing cut through the quiet, dewy morning. A bright blue police box appeared out of thin air, whipping up a slight breeze as it landed. The door swung open and the Doctor stepped out. His brown hair flopped over his eyes and red bowtie was wonky. He straightened it and reached into his inside pocket for his sonic screwdriver. Finding it missing, he turned around to head back into the TARDIS to fetch it but he found his way in blocked by his two companions, Amy and Rory Pond.

“Could you let me past? I really need to get in,” The Doctor asked them, flapping his arms.

“Looking for this?” Amy asked him, holding up his screwdriver. The Doctor just smiled sheepishly, took the screwdriver and stuck it in his jacket pocket.

“Thanks.”

“It’s okay. You’re always leaving it lying around.” Feeling sheepish again, the Doctor turned and headed off, Amy following.

“Rory, shut the door on your way out!” the Doctor shouted over his shoulder. Rory turned to shut the door and when he turned to follow his wife and the Doctor, he found they were already far ahead. Sighing, he ran after them.

When Rory caught up with Amy and the Doctor, he found the Doctor licking a fence.

“Umm, Doctor, what are you doing?”

“Finding out where we are. Amy asked.”

“So you have all this scanning equipment in the TARDIS but you lick a shed to find out where we are?”

Turning round, the Doctor just looked at Rory, then to Amy.

“Answers. We are in the year 3145, on Earth near some village. And, yes, I suppose I do lick something to find out where and when I am.”

“Like when you licked my shed all those years ago?”

“Yes, I suppose....” the Doctor trailed off. He then headed off and entered the village. And immediately wished he hadn’t. Amy and Rory looked on as a villager, who looked like a teenage boy, held a shotgun at the Doctor. Holding up his hands, the Doctor asked carefully,

“So, what have I done to make the first person we see on this planet point a gun at me? Already.”

“Strangers at this awful time. The vanishings at night. The crystal forest and its lake. Mysterious, shadowy figures. Need I go on sir?”

“Fair point. Vanishings? I can help there,” the Doctor pulled out his physic paper. “See? I’m the Doctor, from the Universal Ministry of Planetary Defence. Speciality, villages. I’m trained to deal with, umm, village protection. These are my companions, Amy and Rory Pond. I call them Pond 1 and Pond 2. You can call them Amy and Rory. But, tell me, vanishings?”

“You better come with me sir. And you’re friends. We can talk to Belle. She’s the most recent to fall victim of the vanishings at night.”

“Okay, cool. But first, don’t call me ‘sir’ and I could do with a cup of tea and maybe some Jammy Dodgers. Oh, and what’s your name?”

“Name’s Tom and I know what you’re thinking. I’m too young to run a village but I have to. But I can’t cope with the vanishings and all the things the vanished tell us and it was hard enough before. Losing both parents now this.....”

Belle sat at the table, head in hands. She smelt tea and sat up. Then nearly fell off her chair. Tom sat across the table, with a strange man with an even stranger dress taste next to him. Behind them stood two more strangers, a fiery haired girl and an ordinary looking man next to her, stood in the door way.

“What’s going on?” asked Belle, wary. The Doctor sipped his tea then introduced himself.

“I’m the Doctor and I need your help. Tell me everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah, if you can.”

“Well, it started with the Big Bang and then....”

“Not everything from the beginning of the universe. Everything about these vanishings and shadowy figures. Please?” Belle nodded then started her story. She told the Doctor about how she ran from black, winged wolves, the angel with the dark wings and how he enchanted her. She then went on to say about that she herself turned into one of the wolves and felt she had no control over her body. That she couldn’t do what she actually wanted to do and that when the sun rose she awoke in her bed, like it was a dream. Then every night then after, she turned into one of the wolves and went into the crystal forest with the other wolves and could only do what Gortail told them.

“Gortail?” Amy asked Belle.

“That’s what the angel called himself,” Belle carried on her story. It was this point her story got really interesting. She described that whenever the sun rose and she turned back into a human, the other six wolves did too, all into the other girls who had vanished too. Belle also told the Doctor about how she knew it wasn’t just a dream. She said one night she left the house and was spotted by Tom himself.

“Didn’t you Tom?” Belle asked a nervous Tom.

“Indeed I did...”

“How did you know it was Belle?” Asked the Doctor, fiddling his bowtie.

“Her eyes Doctor. They may have been a different colour but it was in her eyes!”

“Belle, you mentioned all of the wolves, or the vanished if you prefer, like yourself, were girls?”

“All from the village and, yes, all the vanished!” The Doctor sat back in his chair, thinking up a plan. Jumping up (spilling his half drunk tea over his plate of Jammy Dodgers in the process) he pulled a notebook and pencil from his inner pocket and handed them to Amy.

“Pond, take notes and stay here. Pond 2, with me. We’re going to the crystal forest....”

“Umm, why me and not Amy?”

“You know why Rory, now come along!” The Doctor bounded off through the door then immediately back in. “Which way to the forest...” Tom pointed and the Doctor leapt off again. Rory kissed his wife on the cheek and ran to catch up with the Doctor.

Ten minutes later Rory and the Doctor entered the forest. Rory gazed in wonder at the violet trees of crystal. Unknown to the Doctor and to Rory, they were being watched by a pair of amber eyes.....